14 February, 2007

I'll e-mail, I mean call, I mean write a letter today and order a bunch of Amish baskets. Neil has kindly offered to help arrange for the Hershbergers to have boxes made and to help them arrange shipping. So if you'd like an Amish basket, or a full set, let me know.

Honjo has finished our order of custom fenders and, depending on how quickly our import agent can get them on a ship, they should be here in a couple or a few weeks.

Ostrich says they can make a special run of handlebar bags for us in another color. Any suggestions on the color? And should they be heavy nylon or cotton duck?

Also, we still seem not to receive the occasional e-mail. So if I don't respond, please try again.

The photo on the right is of my our son playing in the ocean in Spain. Those of us in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states need a reminder of warm weather today. On the left are a couple of shots taken in our front yard this morning.

UPDATE:

We have a few pair of hammered 35mm fenders for 700c and 45mm fenders for 26" wheels in stock.

I've started a list of folks who want baskets and I'll e-mail you as soon as they come in.

We'll have some prototype racks from a company in Taiwan on the specials page later today. Frankly, they did not meet our standards and we won't stock them. But they are a good deal for beater bikes. One is a stainless steel camping style rear rack. The other is like a Nitto M-12, but black, heavier, and not as well finished.

I think a dark gray cotton bag would look good against the silver, orange, black, and blue colors of the Rando frame. Maybe something like the Jitensha bag color?http://www.jitensha.com/eng/inujirushibags.html

The lake I live on has a few icehouses scattered in groups around the lake. Ice fishing is an example of how men would live if there weren't women to "guide" them. There is a little fishing and a lot of swearing and spitting, and alcohol involved. The fishing shacks tend to look like oversized outhouses, painted the pinky brown color you get when you mix all the extra paint from the old cans in the basement. One my little joys is looking at the seasonal village of 50 or 60 of the shacks clustered on the ice in front of million dollar starter mansions.

I particularly enjoy Grumpy Old Men as it was filmed in the area where we had cabin when I was a child. Jack Lemon even looks like a smaller version of my father, from whom I learned the art of standing on the ice for hours staring down into a dark hole. If it weren't for my father I probably have been forced to learn the skill in a gym in a Community Ed class.

but if they can't lose the grid don't even bother. just last month i ordered both ostrich bags and the grid on the handlebar bag is more annoying that i could have imagined. if i cant remove it with some kind of solvent, i plan to replace it.

i'm also thinking about waxing them. any suggestions on what type of wax or the process?

Right now Ostrich has only offered to do a run in another color. But they also said they would consider doing a bag to our design in the future. So I'm not going to press them to make a lot of changes, but I will ask for a non-grid plastic and a loop for the bag support.

A holding company headed by a former Ralph Lauren VP purchased Filson about a year ago. The purpose was "to leverage the Filson Brand". They have taken some of the Filson items overseas and introduced "Lodge Wear". I noticed the new CEO was replaced a couple of months ago. I don't know if that was good or bad.

A holding company headed by a former Ralph Lauren VP purchased Filson about a year ago. The purpose was "to leverage the Filson Brand". They have taken some of the Filson items overseas and introduced "Lodge Wear". I noticed the new CEO was replaced a couple of months ago. I don't know if that was good or bad.

Quote:"Materials: Cotton canvas sans leather trim (for the vegans among us)."I see! I didn't understand the no leather requests til now. Personally I like MORE leather trim, but a vegan bag is a good idea, too.

I think it’s great that you’re going to pursue other colors! I’ve wanted to order an Ostrich front bag for awhile now, but I just couldn’t get with the color. I vote for the cotton and I’d like to see something in a neutral color; not that I don’t like orange or green, but I think you have to work with a color that will look good with a multitude of color schemes.

But if we put our initials, we might not be as open in our communications to show our raw truthful emotions. Plus we don't look stupid when we say something bad. It almost seems like one of those rare win-win situations.